Kerry sees wider coalition on Iraq
Says Bush should seek allies' support
NEW YORK -- Senator John F. Kerry said yesterday "it may take a new president" to build a multinational coalition that can stabilize Iraq, but the presumptive Democratic nominee also said he hoped President Bush can reverse course and gain military support from allies by giving the United Nations oversight of the country's governance and reconstruction.
A day after Bush held a prime-time news conference reiterating his determination to succeed in Iraq, Kerry agreed that withdrawal is not an option, because an unstable Iraq would be a breeding ground for terrorism. But the Massachusetts senator chastised the president for refusing to allow European and Arab allies to participate in the negotiations about Iraq's future government, and to share in the lucrative proceeds of reconstructing the nation.
He said such steps could convince them to contribute troops to a multinational peace force.
"I do not think the president articulated an alternative vision for how to get out of Iraq. I think he persisted in the one road that he has attached himself to," Kerry told reporters after he, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Representative Charles Rangel, held a town hall forum at the City College of New York.
"I think you have to have a globalization of the interest in the outcome of Iraq. If the outcome of Iraq is linked to the American enterprise, to Halliburton, to our reconstruction, to the perception of . . . only American, unilateral effort, I think it's far more complicated than if it is a global, United Nations-sanctioned, internationally accepted effort."
Kerry said the president should be actively working with the UN and US allies on transferring sovereignty to Iraqis. The Bush approach, he said, has cost the United States in lives and money.
"If I were president of [the] United States . . . I would be personally, deeply involved with the leaders of those countries. I would be working with (UN Secretary General) Kofi Annan much more directly as to how we transfer that authority and how we rapidly defuse the sense of American occupation. But I think this approach of this administration has been consistent and stubborn in the way that it persists in this American occupation and proceeding down the present road. They have made that mistake from day one, and it is costing us money and, I think, it is costing us lives."
Kerry, like Bush, remains committed to US control of security in Iraq. He also said he, like Bush, would commit more troops if commanders in Iraq requested them. The president's reelection committee brushed off his other criticisms.
"In response to the president's news conference, John Kerry launched a purely political attack, refusing to acknowledge the contributions of the more than 30 countries at America's side in Iraq, and calling America's commitment to staying the course in Iraq 'stubborn,' " said a statement issued by Bush-Cheney spokesman Steve Schmidt. "Kerry either isn't paying attention to the fact that America is working with the United Nations on the transfer of power to the Iraqis on June 30, or he simply refuses to let the facts get in the way of his political calculations."
Kerry's comments came after he was confronted about his Iraq approach by a self-professed socialist inside the cavernous Great Hall on the City College campus. With Clinton and Rangel sitting on stools at center stage and Secret Service agents moving into position in anticipation of a potential physical confrontation, Walter Daum, a 64-year-old retired math teacher at the college, accused Kerry of favoring a "stay-the-course" approach in Iraq no different from Bush.
"You say you're a stark difference from George Bush. People hate George Bush," Daum told Kerry as the senator moved down the aisle to speak to him face to face. "By the end of your presidency, people will hate you for the same decision." Behind Clinton and Rangel, a group calling itself the Campus Antiwar Network unfurled a banner reading, "Kerry take a stand; troops out now."
Kerry cited three occasions when he has offered a different course than Bush, including an opinion piece this week in the
"I have consistently been critical of how we got where we are, but we are where we are, sir," Kerry told him. "And it would be unwise beyond belief for the United States of America to leave a failed Iraq in its wake. What we need to do is help transition to stability."
Afterward, during the news conference, Kerry was asked how he could convince allies such as France and Germany to contribute troops when they have been unwilling to do so.
"Well, it may take a new president, then, to be able to change the atmosphere, in order to get accomplished what we need to. I hope not. I hope not for our troops, and I hope not for our country," he said. "I hope this president can achieve now what could relieve the burden of the American people."
The senator also addressed concerns within Iraq about a UN occupation, since the body had withdrawn forces during other military confrontations and fled Iraq after its headquarters was bombed.
"The UN left because of the lack of security and stability. The question here is how do you maximize stability and security in Iraq," he said. He conceded, "This is a chicken-ang-egg situation: Which comes first, the European participation or the stablility? And the worse it gets, the harder it gets to get what you need. That's the tragedy of this. That's the tragedy of not having done it upfront, but the fact is that we have to do what we have to do to make it stable."
During the news conference, Kerry also addressed a Globe story yesterday reporting that some veterans questioned whether he suffered sufficient injuries to merit the three Purple Hearts he received in Vietnam, especially the first, which his commanding officer said was for "a little scratch." The former officer, Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibbard, is a registered Republican.
"The Navy made a decision 35 years ago to make an award, based on the normal procedures by which those awards are made, and those of us who were there know what happened," the senator said. "It hasn't been questioned in 35 years and, obviously, in presidential races, politics is politics and I understand that. But I'm proud of my service and I'm proud of the men I served with, and I'm proud of what I did on that particular night and the risks we took and what we achieved. Period. End of issue."
Last night, Kerry presided over a Manhattan fund-raiser that brought in an estimated $6.5 million in contributions.
Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.
